Set to launch in Camden this spring, the site will seat 110 covers and has been repositioned as a late-night venue with a dedicated dancefloor, combining Caribbean-inspired food with a rum-led drinks offering and music programming.
The food menu will focus on accessible, finger-friendly dishes including salt cod fritters, oxtail croquettes and coconut prawns, alongside more substantial plates such as curried mutton and Jamaican fried chicken.
A dedicated jerk section will feature ribs, wings and boneless chicken, while homemade burgers and pizzas incorporate Caribbean flavours.
The bar is set to feature what it describes as “London’s largest selection of rums”, alongside rum flights, mocktails and tropical smoothies.
Signature cocktails are predominantly rum-based and include the Jamrock Punch, a blend of Appleton Signature, Koko Kanu, pineapple, guava, lime and strawberries; and the Rude Boy, made with Wray & Nephew, Duppy Share, passionfruit, pimento spice, lime and grenadine.
Entertainment will play a central role, with regular DJs and live music at weekends spanning reggae, dancehall and hip hop.
The site will sit alongside the four-strong Cottons portfolio in Vauxhall, Notting Hill, Shoreditch and Camden.
The group has confirmed plans to roll out additional Rum Kitchen sites across London as part of its wider growth strategy.
“Rum Kitchen allows us to build on our experience with Cottons while evolving with a more bar-led, late-night format,” says Chris Singam, managing director of The Rhumshack Group.
“It’s about bringing the energy of a Caribbean party to London, with a strong food and drink offer that broadens our appeal.”
Rum Kitchen was originally launched in 2013 when Jonny Boud and Alex Potter took on the former The Mangrove site in Notting Hill.
Heavily influenced by New York’s Miss Lily’s, the pair created a beach shack-themed rum bar and restaurant that soon spawned further sites in Brixton, Soho’s Kingly Court and Shoreditch.
Boud and Potter subsequently left Rum Kitchen in 2019 following its sale to Naga Partners.
In 2024, under the ownership of investment vehicle Naga Partners, with Mike Parnham, former operations manager at Las Iguanas, taking the reins, Rum Kitchen quietly closed its entire estate.
According to documents filed to The Gazette, one of the group’s trading subsidiaries, Icarus Leisure Soho Limited, was wound up in April of that year.